Tag: artisan cheese

As many of you know, after living in Oregon for 20 years, my husband and I recently purchased a coffee shop, bakery and restaurant in downtown Oregon and renamed itFirefly Coffeehouse & Artisan Cheese. After five months of steadily growing this new business with a new breakfast, lunch & dinner menu, daily specials, and an expanded bakery, drink and espresso menu, we are taking it to the next level and adding an artisan cheese case and retail space on May 2, featuring the best artisan cheeses and local foods from Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest.

In fact, my office at the Firefly is currently filled with boxes of Gail Ambrosius Chocolate, Quince and Apple Preserves, Treat Nuts, Potter’s Crackers, Bee Barf Honey and bags of Kickapoo and Anodyne Coffee, all waiting to be put onto shelves next week. Meanwhile, every square inch of cooler space not occupied with Sassy Cow milk is filled with cheese wheels that have been arriving all week and which I will furiously be cutting and wrapping next week. Did I mention we’re also adding a full array of different cheese boards with wine and craft beer pairings?

As a result of this flurry of new activity in my life, last week I announced to members of Wisconsin Cheese Originals that I would be sunsetting the member-based organization. After 10 years of running a non-official non-profit (thanks to a husband with a good heart and a good job), it’s simply time for me to focus on three newer passions:

1) Building a community around good food & good coffee.

2) Bringing artisan cheese and local foods to the heart of my hometown.

3) Continuing to help steer smart and steady growth as a three-term elected member of the Oregon Village Board, a member of the Oregon Planning Commission and the Oregon Library Board. In fact, in the spring of 2019, I plan to run for Village President.

Operating a 5,000 square-foot coffeehouse, restaurant, bakery and retail shop brings a an exciting opportunity to reach a wider audience and share the gospel of good food. After 15 years of marketing, retailing, buying and educating folks about artisan cheese, I am expanding that passion to supporting local farms by purchasing not only local cheese, but local eggs, milk, produce, meats, and educating customers on the importance of sustainable eating with descriptions of daily specials and new signage.

So fear not, if you would like to stay connected to the many events, classes and activities that I used to offer through Wisconsin Cheese Originals, I’ll still be offering many of those things through Firefly Coffeehouse & Artisan Cheese. Be sure and visit this website for a continually updated listing of classes taking place at the Firefly, and keep reading Cheese Underground, where I will continue to write about cheese and announce events, including a new season of Cheese Underground Radio debuting this summer.

Lastly, if you live anywhere near Oregon, Wisconsin, or have a road trip planned this summer, please stop in at the Firefly at 114 N. Main Street and say hello. So many of you have become my family over the years, and there is nothing better than having family share in your success. The Firefly is my next 20-year project, and I look forward to sharing that journey with you.

Exciting news, cheese peeps. My cheese world is changing, and it’s about to get filled with a whole lot more caffeine. Beginning Friday, December 1, my husband, Uriah and I are the proud new owners of Firefly Coffeehouse in Oregon, Wisconsin, and will be renaming it to (you guessed it): Firefly Coffeehouse & Artisan Cheese.

Next year marks 20 years that Uriah and I have lived in Oregon, and for much of the second half of that time, the Firefly has literally been our second home. We are regulars every morning for our game of pre-work cribbage while drinking our small lattes (the staff often sets up our drinks as we walk in the door). I teach at least two cheese classes there every month, Uriah runs a Euchre tournament on the second Thursday, and you can find me working on my laptop several times a week in my favorite lounge chair next to the fish tank.

For years, most every cheese distributor, cheesemaker and local government official has known where to find me when I don’t answer my cell phone: the Firefly. Folks have figured out that Oregon’s Living Room is my hideout. And starting next week, my hideout will be my official place of employment, as Uriah and I take the reigns from owner Erika Weidler and attempt to carry on the massively successful dynasty she has created in my town.

So what does this mean?

First, if you’re a regular at the Firefly, do not panic. We’re not changing anything for awhile. I’ll be busy for a couple of months just trying to figure out vendor contracts, credit forms, water filtration systems and navigating a payroll of 12 employees. I’m already having dreams I’ve forgotten to order cups. And so far, I’ve pulled a whopping 12 shots of espresso, most of them being mildly terrible. Luckily, I will soon be the very proud supervisor of six full-time trained baristas and an additional six part-time amazingly friendly staff, all of whom can pull a perfect shot every time, make a Hammy Bagel Breakfast Sandwich in under four minutes, and bake a perfect scone every morning.

Second, my life will still revolve around cheese. While I’ve saying goodbye to the awesome job I’ve had for the past five years as the specialty cheese buyer for Metcalfe’s Market, the hundreds of members of my Wisconsin Cheese Originals can still expect me to send them news of classes, dinners, tours and festivals. In fact, mark your calendars now for Cheesetopia Milwaukee on April 8, 2018.

Third, I will of course be introducing artisan cheese to the Firefly (duh), but please don’t be in a super big rush, because I want to do it right, and that takes time. You can expect the Firefly to become a whole lot cheesier closer to spring. Between now and then, we’ll be tweaking the menu to include more local ingredients. And some night in January, we’ll host a big party for everyone to drink practice shots of espresso until Jeanne pulls 12 perfect ones in a row.

One more date to mark on your calendar: Friday, December 1 at 2 pm. That’s when the Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce is bringing their spool of red ribbon and giant scissors and we officially christen the new Firefly Coffeehouse & Artisan Cheese. I am so flipping excited (and nervous and overwhelmed, but mostly excited, but really nervous) and I can’t wait to share this journey with all of you. I’m finally marrying the two food loves of my life: cheese and coffee. And best of all, I’ve got Uriah beside me. Cheese on.

People who don’t work in the dairy industry are always amazed when they visit my house and come across back issues of Cheese Market News and The Cheese Reporter.

“Wait, you actually read these? How on earth can there be TWO national weekly newspapers dedicated to just cheese?” and the standard: “Wow, you’re weird.” These are the same comments I get when I take past issues into a coffee shop and dare to catch up on cheese news in public.

While I appreciate keeping up on the latest technology, industry news, commodity block prices and Class III milk futures that these publications provide, it’s always a jolt to sit down and read them after I’ve visited a small-batch, artisan cheesemaker in a far away place. I get reminded in a hurry of what’s important to Americans.

For example, here are three headlines from the current issue of Cheese Market News: “Laughing Cow Adds New Flavors to Cheese Dippers Line” and “Fairlife Introduces SuperKids Ultra-Filtered White and Chocolate Milks With Omega-3” and “Borden Cheese Unveils Snack Bars.” I’m not even cherry-picking headlines from multiple pages – all of these stories actually exist on the centerfold pages of 8 and 9 in the October 13, 2017 issue of CMN.

When I compare these American dairy industry headlines to passages of the new book by Bronwen and Francis Percival: Reinventing the Wheel: Milk, Microbes, and the Fight for Real Cheese, I get a little depressed. In America, we are so focused on creating the next biggest, boldest flavor and punching it into the most-convenient-to-eat dairy package, that I’m not sure we still appreciate what actual milk can taste like when we turn it into cheese without adding starter culture cocktails, berries or peppers.

Creating – and appreciating – simple cheese is going out of style in America. In an instant gratification society of snap chats, instant messaging and presidential orders issued in 140 characters, more of us are demanding every bite of cheese should rocket every one of our senses. Every. Single. Time.

I compare those headlines to the half dozen sheep dairies I visited in the French and Spanish Basque region last month, and I remember tasting cheeses made from just milk, rennet and salt. No added berries. Not a pepper in sight. Most of these cheesemakers weren’t even adding starter cultures. The tools at their disposal included a recipe for “mountain cheese” that had been passed down through generations, and a reliance on raw milk that contained enough natural bacteria to acidify on its own. (If you’re not familiar with what I mean by starter cultures, here’s an excellent primer from HomeCheeseAdam).

Were these Basque sheep milk cheeses flaming rockets of flavor? Did they transform my every sense into rainbows and unicorns? They did not. But each cheese was slightly different. Each was startling in its simplicity. And each allowed me to taste and appreciate the valley, mountain top or farm on which it was made.

Cheese worth eating has a story. It doesn’t come conveniently packaged, and it doesn’t have the words super or ultra in its name. What it does have is a story you can taste. In fact, my favorite passage from the Percivals’ book, Reinventing the Wheel, comes near the end, and after reading 250 pages that reignited my passion for artisan cheese, this passage was like salve to my soul: “If it is a story that we are buying, then it should be a story that we can taste. And if we value environmental and farming decisions, these are the attributes that we need to value. This is the ‘best’ taste for now. It is the moral dimension of flavor.”

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You can meet the Percivals and hear them speak on Sunday, November 5 at The Edgewater in Madison, Wisconsin. The pair, along with Uplands’ cheesemaker Andy Hatch, are presenting a 90-minute “Taste of Place” seminar featuring cheeses from Europe and America. Tickets available only in advance here. The seminar is part of Wisconsin Cheese Originals’ Wisconsin Cheese Camp.

Listen to a podcast with Master Cheesemaker Mike Brennenstuhl, General Manager Mary Beth Hill, and learn more about Door Artisan Cheese Company on Cheese Underground Radio:

Subscribe to future episodes by searching for Cheese Underground in your podcast app!

A bit of the backstory:

Imagine building a brand new artisan cheese factory. You’ve made your very first batch of cheese, and just days later, opened a shiny new retail store. It’s the beginning of a busy tourist season in Door County, Wisconsin. Customers are flowing in, eager to see a state-of-the art factory, cheese market, restaurant and wine counter. You’ve got cases filled with nearly a hundred different cheeses, charcuterie from around the world, and specialty food items for sale. But everyone wants one thing: to taste and buy your cheese. The problem? None of it will be ready for months.

That’s the situation Master Cheesemaker Mike Brennenstuhl, owner of Door Artisan Cheese Company, found himself in this spring. After building a brand new, 18,000 square-foot facility in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, that includes a retail market selling more than 100 different varieties of cheese, a wine counter with 150 different wines from around the world, and a fine-dining restaurant serving small plates and full entrees, the one thing Mike Brennenstuhl could not offer was his own cheese. It just wasn’t ready yet.

“It was brutal in the beginning,” Mike says. “We did good sales from day one, but how do you explain to people who come in that you don’t have any of your own cheese ready yet? We were making fresh cheeses, like Colby, but even that takes a month to age out. We’re finally in a place now where we have some cheeses for sale that we’re making, and it’s been a lot more fun.”

“In August of 2016, we blasted our first stick of dynamite,” says Mike. It turns out most of Door County is rock from the Niagara Escarpment, a prominent rock ridge that spans nearly 1,000 miles in an arc across the Great Lakes region. To build Door Artisan Cheese Company, Mike’s crew had to blast 18 feet down and remove 34,000 cubic yards of rock to pour a foundation. All that rock had to be crushed and re-used on site. Most of it went to build a beautiful rock patio just off the restaurant, perfect for outdoor dining and sipping a glass of fine wine.

Nine months later, Door Artisan Cheese Company opened on April 22. Since then, Mike and Master Cheesemaker Jim Demeter have been making cheese non-stop. Inside the facility’s 5,000 square-foot caves sit some of the American Originals Mike’s already created, including:

BelaSardo, a Romano-style cheese crafted in a unique barrel shape

Rosette, brined in Italian red wine for five days (Mike won’t disclose his secret wine of choice, but it looks beautiful)

BelAdagio, a parmesan made in 20-pound wheels

Valmy, named after the community of Valmy just down the road, a salty, creamy cheese made in the Trappist style and washed with Chocolate Stout, aged 4-6 months.

Zivile, named after of a favorite employee, a Swedish Fontina-style cheese

1265, a raw milk British Shopshire Blue -style, named after 1265 Lombardy Avenue, the corporate office of the Green Pay Backers, and a green & gold cheese still in development.

Crema Pressato, a young Asiago-style

Top Hat Cheddar

Big Horn Colby, Monterey Jack and Pepper Jack

All of the milk used to make Door Artisan cheeses comes from Red Barn Family Farms, a small group of dairy farmers in the Appleton area committed to farming sustainably. One of the most interesting cheeses made from that special milk is BelaSardo, formed in a unique shape and made from molds that Mike hunted down and imported from Sardinia, an island off of Italy with a rich cheesemaking tradition. BelaSardo looks like a miniature beer barrel.

“When my family was making cheese in my hometown of Symco, Wisconsin, we made a cheese called Sardo Romano – this was back in the 1960s. As I learned the trade, I made my first full vat of cheese at age 16, and I made a vat of Sardo Romano. That little round barrel was quite popular for a long period of time, and for whatever reason, going into the 1980s, it disappeared,” Mike says. “We are now the only manufacturer in North America that is making that shape of cheese again. We’re going to create a whole line of cheeses made in that shape, so that when people see it, they know it was made at Door Artisan Cheese Company.”

While his future may be in barrel-shaped American Originals, Mike Brennenstuhl is already famous for making amazing blue cheese. In the 2000s, Mike created a full line of award-winning blues at Seymour Dairy (now owned by Great Lakes Cheese). Today, he’s itching to start making a line of blues again, and is planning to release his 1265 Shropshire-style blue around Christmas.

When Mike and Jim make cheese at Door Artisan Cheese, one of them almost always wears a headset with a microphone. Guests watching through the viewing window can press a button and talk directly to a cheesemaker. Mike and Jim are able to answer questions on the spot and share the steps of cheesemaking with visitors.

“Our goal with Door Artisan Cheese was to enhance the experience of people visiting and living in Door County,” Mike says. “I think we’ve accomplished that. We’ve learned a lot this year, and I think next year will really be our breakout year in the business. We’re all about celebrating Wisconsin cheese.”

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Today’s Cheese Underground Radio is sponsored by Dairy Connection Incorporated, supplier of cultures, enzymes, cheesemaking supplies and trusted expertise since 1999. A family-owned business based in Madison, Wisconsin, the dedicated Dairy Connection team takes pride in its commitment to be the premier supplier to artisan, specialty and farmstead cheesemakers nationwide. To learn more, visit dairyconnection.com.

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Cheese Underground is a blog and podcast written and co-produced by Jeanne Carpenter, an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional.

Jeanne is an award-winning journalist, former spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, and was the specialty cheese buyer for Metcalfe’s Markets in Wisconsin.

Today, she and her husband, Uriah, own and run Firefly Coffeehouse & Artisan Cheese in their hometown of Oregon, Wisconsin, and are committed to building a community gathering place for folks who like good coffee, good food & good cheese.